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Man who refused to leave burning car in Sunshine Canyon was under influence of drugs, officials say

As flames increased, a demand to speak to attorney

By Mitchell Byars

Staff Writer

Posted:
12/01/2017 05:52:21 PM MST

Updated:
12/03/2017 08:35:03 AM MST

The driver who initially refused to come out of his car even though it was on fire after a crash on Wednesday night was believed by investigators to be under the influence of some sort of drug at the time.

Speros Palmer, 44, of Erie, faces charges of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, careless driving, resisting arrest, third-degree assault, failure to present evidence of insurance, and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court records.

Palmer is due for a formal filing of charges on Tuesday, and has been released on a $10,000 bond.

Because it would be his fourth or subsequent offense, the DUI charge would be a Class 4 felony, while the other charges are either misdemeanors or traffic offenses.

Palmer

According to an arrest affidavit, two Colorado State Patrol troopers and a Boulder County Sheriff's Office deputy responded to the 4000 block of Sunshine Canyon Drive at about 10 p.m. Wednesday after Palmer reportedly crashed his Volkswagen Jetta into a tree or a pole.

When a deputy first arrived on scene, he said Palmer got out of car but then jumped back into the car and began to rummage through the vehicle. Concerned Palmer might be going to a weapon, the officers took cover and drew their weapons while telling Palmer to exit the vehicle, which at this time was smoking and beginning to catch fire.

The officers said Palmer still refused to come out of the vehicle, even though the passenger side of the car was filing up with smoke and flames were coming out of the front wheel wells.

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One of the state troopers decided to approach the car with his fire extinguisher and used it on the passenger side, but Palmer still refused to leave the car and attempted to restart it several times as the officers once again took cover.

When the flames on the driver's side of the car began to intensify, one state trooper went to the car with a lug wrench and broke out the passenger-side windows while the other two officers provided cover.

According to the affidavit, Palmer still refused to get out of the vehicle, saying, "No, you are going to hurt me," and advising the officers he wanted to talk to his attorney.

At this time, the trooper opened the passenger door and attempted to drag Palmer out, but he resisted and the trooper had to pull back when the smoke and flames coming from the front of the car became too much for him.

At that point, the car became fully engulfed in flames and Palmer finally dove out of the passenger door and tried to run from the officers, who were able to tackle him. The officers said "Palmer's clothing was soaked and he was sweating profusely," but were able to eventually cuff and restrain him.

According to the affidavit, Palmer said, "This is all a movie scene. You are not real cops, I want the real cops." When the fire caused the tires and the windows on the car to blow out, Palmer added, "Those are fake gunshots," and cried out "Help," several times.

Artem Nikulkov was driving through the area when he happened upon the scene that night.

"At first it just looked like it was the car that was on fire, and that police were trying to contain it," Nikulkov said. "But after a few short moments, when the car started catching fire under the engine compartment, it became clear someone was in the car."

Nikulkov said he watched the officers try to get Palmer out of the car and then later wrestle with him on the ground once he finally did.

"I just overheard them saying, 'Get on your stomach, we're trying to help you,'" Nikulkov said. "He was really not cooperating with them."

"It was very strange. I've witnessed highway crashes and automobile accidents while on road trips or driving around. But this was the wildest thing I've ever seen on the side of the road. I couldn't believe the guy was unwilling to get out of a burning car."

Deputies discovered no weapons on Palmer, but did find two glass pipes with brown residue inside them. He was taken to Boulder Community Health's Foothills Hospital, where he was so combative he had to be sedated, according to the affidavit. Officials did a blood draw, and Palmer was treated and released to the custody of the Boulder County Jail.

According to the affidavit, Palmer had prior DUIs in 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2007 as well as several other traffic violations in Boulder, Adams and Jefferson counties.

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